Stop the Traitor

While gazing out of the large arch formed window, Harrigan admired the rather grim and dark surroundings of Savage Skull. A place that was surrounded by the marshes and woodlands of the Spooky Forest, with in the distance a large lonely peak that stood there as a ominous giant. Often did Harrigan wonder, what would happen if that mountain would erupt. Pouring out the earths blood and scorch the lands surrounding it. It would probably put half of Fiore under a layer of ash clouds that will blacken the sky and block out the sun for days.

Shaking off the thought of such a disaster, Harrigan focussed on the meal in front of him again. All this time he was sitting at a small wooden rococo styled table, with upon it a variety of bread, jams and fruits. That together formed a rather large and expensive looking breakfast.
Then the door to Harrigan's office creaked open, and a man appeared in it's opening. Holding on one of his hands a salver, with upon it the a teapot along with it's smaller brother the cup. Both of them made out of the same silver material as the salver.

'Your tea, sir' said the man, with a neutral voice.

The tea, auburn in color, was being poured from the pot into the small cup. And created the rich flavored scent only the redbush blend could provide. It's aroma filled the entire room, and Harrigan couldn't help then to associate this moment to the feeling of autumn. When the trees shed their lustful green and replaced it with the brown and reddish array of colors.

He took a zip from the tea, and let it's warm contents slide down his throat and warm up his already tired body. Giving him the feeling that the warmth was reenergizing him. It was then that he could hear the harsh clacking of woman boots treading on the cold stone ground of the guildhall. Resounding through the never ending silence only Savage Skull could provide.
When the sound of footsteps stopped, Harrigan threw a look at the door, which was left open by the servant from earlier. And to his surprise saw that one of the most promising members of the guild stood in the doors opening.
Janneline Ariel, pilar of the dancing blades. One of the four powerhouses in this guild besides the master and his second in command. She was a young woman, with raven black hair that reached all the way to her lower back. That together with her slender figure made her quite easy on the eyes.

Curious to what brought her here so early in the morning, Harrigan raised an eyebrow without even asking why she was here. He did however knew that something was going on, why else would she be here, disrupting his peaceful morning.
'Tobias, leave us....' he said to the servant. 'Oh and close the door behind you.'

A complicated frown appeared on Harrigan's face, never before in Savage Skull history had a spy of the Magic Council managed to infiltrate the darkest of guild. Not even during the reign of the Lichborne, and back then masses of thugs and criminals swarmed towards the guild. Maybe it was precisely because of what happened in the past, that the Council deemed it necessary to get a mole inside the guild.

But what infuriated Harrigan even more, was that it happened during his reign. It was a stain on his regime, and something that he couldn't allow to go unpunished. It was a harsh dent in his rather fragile pride.

But at least there was an upside to the situation, Janneline Ariel the pillar of dancing blades proved herself to be even more loyal to him and the guild's cause, then Harrigan actually expected. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to let her handle the situation for the most part, she was actually closer to the lower ranked members then he ever could be. Which meant that she also had more insight into the situation then he could ever have. Also she has proved in the past that she was more then efficient enough to handle the situation quick without much trouble.

'How much I hate to admit it' responded Harrigan with a clear underlining tone of anger in his voice. 'But I wasn't aware of the situation. And it annoys me... no pains me actually that a spy managed to slip in here under my watch..... so in the light of recent discovery I here by permit you to investigate this so called spy.... but do it in utter secrecy. If the spy get any wind of that we are aware of its presence in the guild, it certainly would flee.... however I do grant you the rights of the guild inquisitor.'

It was an intriguing offer, mostly the Savage Skull mages would sprint off at any chance to prove themselves. Mostly by themselves, since the guild was purely based on self interest and getting ahead of others. Even most of the Pillars acted this way towards each other, utilizing their own members for their own personal gain. It was sickening at times, however that is just the way Savage Skull is. Always have been and always will be.

However, even in that dark egocentric based vibe, there were always oddities. An Janneline was an exemplar of that. She cared only about her loyalty to the guild, and made sure her Pillar did as well. It was quite refreshing and her offering Harrigan to join her on her inquisition of guild members was an conduct of her loyalty.

'Hmm, I do have grown a bit weary of this office lately...' said Harrigan while he pondered if he should do this. Normally it wasn't really his m.o. to tag along with his members, and other might see it was a sign of weakness or even compassion. But then again, he was the absolute ruler of this guild and even if he choose to love someone in here. Others wouldn't defy him, not yet anyway. And this was a peculiar situation, a traitor in the guild has never happened before. And getting some personal satisfaction didn't sound so bad to his ears.

'Allright, I'll take you up on your offer.' he said while he stood up from behind his office. 'However, I'll leave the inquiries to you, you seem to have more grasp on the situation then I have. So if you are ready, you may proceed.'

It must have been an ominous sight, for those who had caught a glimpse of the guild master and the Janneline walking down the hall. Both of them with such a malice and determination in their eyes, that even being caught in their vision would probably end badly. Their steps were firm and stern, and created a simultaneous clacking sounds as they trod through the silent and cold guild.

In time, Janneline lead Harrigan towards the place where her assailant so foolishly charged at the Pillar of Dancing Blades, without even thinking about the off chance that she could easily dispatch him. In fact, Harrigan doubted if her assailant had any braincells at all. The man was so confident in his own capabilities that he had boldly insinuated that there was a spy in Savage Skulls midst.

During their walk to the outskirts of the guild, Harrigan had slowly observed Janneline. Who was treading through the Spooky Forest as a true huntress. Her eyes captivating every slight movement, and alert to every minuscule detail. And not giving the man behind her, her guild master any attention. As if he wasn't even there. However Harrigan knew, that she was more then aware of his presence, and that her focus laid with finding the culprit of these betrayals instead of looking good for her master.

Surprisingly enough the enemy was foolishly enough to let them caught so easily, as a small rustling of leaves cut through the silence of the forest as a knife. Alerting Janneline immediately.
As she kicked away a small bush, she revealed a set of eyes belonging to a man. Who surprised as he was immediately jumped into action, probably thinking a good defense was a good offense. Yet just as his former colleague, he never anticipated the young woman to be a far better fighter then he'd original thought.

With one simple move Janneline worked her new assailant towards the ground, and immediately put the men in some sort of cruel lock only a Savage Skull mage was capable off. By pushing with her heel against the mans neck, he was forced to lay down onto the ground knowing that with one wrong move she could snap it. Or knowing her skill, even worse.

'My, my, how the Knights have fallen. I used to hold you guys in such high regards, but now after seeing this despicable act of espionage. I have to say I am utter disappointed. I at least expected some sort of master in disguise, a true champion of intelligence to be send our way. But this, this is just a grunt that is send here on a suicide mission...' Harrigan taunted the man, even though his thoughts on the matter were genuine. He truly expected more from the Rune Knights.
'You do however contain some worth to us right now, so I'd kindly suggest you'd answer any questions my colleague has for you. She is after all, not known for her mercy around here...'

Yay for forgetting the dice >.>

The member 'Janneline Ariel' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Such grace, such beauty, such perfectly perceptive strikes. These were the very words that came to mind when Harrigan gazed upon Janneline. No move, no slash or stab was unplanned, by forcing her opponents hand to raise a shield against her, she'd managed to create an opening. A frail point where she could let her sword enter the mans flesh. She did this so by spinning around, as if she was performing a dance instead of fighting against some trained knights from the Magic Council.

However there was one thing that impressed Harrigan more, one concept above the others. The way that she moved, how she pulled the enemies attention towards her. It truly made her the most loyal of all the members in the guild, others might have used this opportunity to get him into the crossfire. A chance to strike him down and ascend to the position of guild master. But not her, with all her might, all her focus she made sure that the enemies would not have a chance to lay a finger on him.

'So loyalty like that even resides in a guild such as Savage Skull huh, guess I can't just keep standing here then. It is quite unbecoming of me after all.'


With that as his last thought Harrigan dashed forwards, placing himself in the midst of the battle. Just several inches away from Janneline herself. 'Even though I do appreciate the thought dear, I can't have you fighting all alone, after all I can't allow the off chance that I might lose my most powerful asset, can I now'

With his back no aimed towards Janneline, Harrigan gazed upon three of the surrounding knights. Fully clad in light armor, with the clear symbol of the Rune Knights stamped on their chest, they stood firm. unflinched by the sudden meddling of the man in the velvet red suit. It made Harrigan curious enough to open his sixth sense, to asses their presence. And just as he assumed these guys weren't so weak, instead they'd probably knew their way in combat well enough to have the guts to attack a guild master and an high ranking member of the guild.

A smirk appeared on Harrigan's face, a conceited smile. A devilish cheshire smile even. Because in his head, Harrigan only wanted one thing now. To break them, to make them grovel before him, crush their spirit, their belief and their determination.

He raised his right arm towards them, his hand, no fingers aimed at them while they moved into position. And then he snapped his fingers, creating a small sound that immediately got followed up by the intolerable screams of the three knights.

The three separate swords summoned by Janneline, sunk deep into the chest of the Rune Knights being targeted by Harrigan. And actually saved them from the cruel fate and excruciating pain that could have lasted for hours. Yet you wouldn't hear the guild master complain, it was after all an effective opportunity to slime down their enemies, and open up space for him to focus his attention on new enemies.

Enemies, who now after seeing what their comrades had suffered, started to second guess their position. Realizing that even though they were with more, they were still outnumbered. That hesitation was like a beckon call for Harrigan, and probably Janneline as well. Knowing that an hesitating enemy equals a dead enemy.

Stepping forwards with S rank speed, what could be considered a flash step. Harrigan would leave behind a shifting after image and would find himself right next to one of the remaining Knights. Whom didn't even had a chance to react to Harrigans hand that grasped the man's throat and ripped it open. Leaving him to collapse and spasm as he bled out. At Harrigans other side, was another Knight. Who tried to attack, but was about to met the same fate as his brethren.

Without even looking at, Harrigan hold his arm towards the mans chest. And would focus on the singular point of life. Namely the heart. There Harrigan would focus all the mans latent magical potential, and would it compress and boil it till the magical power would explode inside the man. And literally lay waste to the knights heard from the inside.